Treasure Chest of Thoughts

This post continues my thoughts on this professional book…chapter by chapter.

Troy Hick’s chapter two “Fostering Choice and Inquiry Through RSS, Social Bookmarking, and Blogging” was, for the most part, a review.  Well, sort of…

First, I have not worked enough with my students forming questions before beginning the writing process.  Duh!  Imagine how much more clearly focused papers would be if they were to begin with a question.

Second, I did not know about the series of papers, created by Educause Learning Initiative, entitled “Seven Things You Should Know About…”  What a great resource!

Third, while although my students are contributing feeds to their RSS, I have yet to require their using a source from it…

Fourth, blogfolios…yes, that interests me, as well.

Fifth, two new tools:  ScribeFire and Zotero.  Yes, they interest me as well.

If I only glean five things from each chapter, what an invaluable resource this book will be to me!

*******************
Reminder…this book’s author Troy Hicks maintains a online resource for The Digital Writing Workshop at his Ning.

I breathed a sigh of relief as I read  Obama to Seek Sweeping Change in ‘No Child’ Law as reported in the New York Times (via Accomplished Teacher by Smart Brief).

Relief, for my building is on “academic alert,” an alert created by our state, even though our scores exceed the state average and the AYP.  Because a sub-population did not meet the cut-off score, we carry the weight.  Talk about a ball and chain!

Never should we lower our standards, yet something must be wrong with the configurations when we have @75% scoring proficient.

Maybe a facelift is needed…right?

In our 1:1 classrooms, when we ask them to take their computers to “half-mast,” the students know to lower their screens and direct their attention to the teacher or whoever is leading the discussion or presenting at that time.

Why the term half-mast?  Just as we lower our flags to show respect for various persons or situations, so the students lower their computer screens to show respect to the those leading the class.

We will be doing more of this, in part to my observation and discussion with peers about attention spans and muli-tasking and in part due to this article I received via an e-letter from The Chronicle Review.  Please take a moment to read “Scholars Turn Their Attention to Attention.”

This I have noted in my classroom…yes, could even name names:

“Heavy multitaskers are often extremely confident in their abilities,” says Clifford I. Nass, a professor of psychology at Stanford University. “But there’s evidence that those people are actually worse at multitasking than most people.”

Surely my student would not do the following?  But just in case….yes, half-mast!

“One of the deepest questions in this field,” Nass says, “is whether media multitasking is driven by a desire for new information or by an avoidance of existing information. Are people in these settings multitasking because the other media are alluring—that is, they’re really dying to play Freecell or read Facebook or shop on eBay—or is it just an aversion to the task at hand?”

This article seems to NOT promote1:1 classroom…maybe ?  THAT I do not promote.  What I do promote is being aware of the research being conducted and acting accordingly.

Thus, for laptops to be the most effective, yes, sometimes, they need to be at half-mast.

What “tricks” are you learning/using to ensure your techie tools are most effective?

I struggle with the term “best practices” and really appreciated this post at Bridging Differences —  Educating the Young:  Who Knows “Best”?

Please take a moment to at least skim/scan this article…

Did you read the comments?  Here are two of note:

Posted by andrei radulescu-banu  Before a new drug goes on the market, careful studies are being performed under the aegis of the FDA for effects and side effects. The study participants are randomly assigned in two groups, one treated one with the actual drug, and the other with placebo. The effects of the drug can be thus statistically ascertained, and an “evidence-based” decision can be made.

In education, however, few if any studies randomize student participation. For example, the Federal Government sponsors through the NSF a large number of curricula, widely used in schools, although no studies can prove with certainly that these curricula are more effective than the alternatives.

AND  by Paul Hoss:

So what could education learn from medicine? How about, all patients are different in the doctor’s office and are treated accordingly. How could it possibly be any other way?

I have been asked to validate my in-class practices by documenting that I use a “best” practice.   My question:  When does a teacher of over eighteen years receive credit for what works well in my classroom, whether on “the list” or not?

My point is this:  my practices may never be “best” as long as they do not agree with those who have already selected what “best” is for our district.

My argument is this:  Present a smorgasbord of practices; allow a teacher to choose what works best with that teacher’s presentation style, that teacher’s personal beliefs, that teacher’s passions.  Then THAT practice will be the best practice for that classroom.

What is lacking is the smorgasbord.

CLARIFICATION:  No teacher should ever quit learning.  Because so many teachers have become complacent, so willing to do what they have always done, more and more choice is being stripped from them; therefore, what might be best for one is being proclaimed as best for all.

BUT what is lacking is the smorgasbord.

I am guilty of not providing enough smorgasbord within my classroom.  In this month’s issue of Educational Leadership, Jessica Towbin in “When Students Don’t Play the Game” writes about her attempts to encourage engaged students by finding out where EACH student is.

To engage these students in learning that matters to them, I need to repeatedly ask the question, “Where are you?” and be prepared to step back and listen.

In my very busy life at school, I do not find, no, I do not take the time to offer the smorgasbord; therefore, due to my own fault, due to my crazy schedule, too many students in my classroom are not engaged as they could be.  (Efficacy…yes, I believe in that also!  Good article on teacher efficacy here.)

The smorgasbord.

No technology is not always the answer for every student, but technology has to be the answer for every student at some point, as is illustrated in What the Web of Tomorrow Will Look Like: 4 Big Trends to Watch, by Mashable co-editor Ben Parr.

Yes, technology is one of the “best” practices.  Yes, climbing Bloom’s, reaching those “new” levels of evaluating and creating, as coined by Lorin Anderson, a student of Bloom’s, to model the needed 21st Century learning skills, is definitely one of the “best.”  So is allowing a teacher to use any method that makes that teacher effective in the classroom.

Okay, maybe I do not struggle with the expression “best practices.”  Maybe I just have a strong opinion!

What is your opinion?  What is on your smorgasbord?

***For a glimpse at the Smorgasbord being created by my peers, you may visit Tradigitaltraining and my portfolio here (very drafty…only began tonight) as a part of this endeavor.

In perusing my book review blog, I noted one commonality:  light reads.  Here’s my excuse:  January was a busy month (see previous post), AND all of these are novels in a series that I am either reading or wanted to read.  Interesting my fascination with series.

1. Deliah’s Crossing:  the first in a series of three by V.C. Andrews about a young adult sent to live in America when her parents die in Mexico.
2. City of Glass (The Mortal Instruments):  The final of three (?) by Cassandra Clare, this series tells the global adventures of Clary and her friends (and enemies) against various sci-fi characters.  Cassandra Clare could easily continue this series, for several characters were not fully developed….please!
3. Witch and Wizard:  The first in James Patterson’s new young adult series, this novel begins the adventures of a brother and sister who learn that, yes, they are a witch and a wizard.  As always, Patterson keeps one turning the pages to learn what will happen next.
4. Percy Jackson and the Olympians – The Lightning Thief:  Why did I wait so long to begin this series?  Soon to be released on the big screen (Feb. 12), this novel is where main character learns that he is the son of Poseidon and begins his grand journey to save the world from the wrath of the gods.  I just can’t continue this series until I have watched the movie…want this particular novel’s details to be fresh in my mind.
5. Tempted (House of Night):  This series continues with Zoey Redbird’s epic adventures (maybe too epic?) with her friends and enemies at the House of Night.
6. and 7.  A Year on Ladybug Farm and At Home on Ladybug Farm:  Ah, these novels are so relaxing in a funny, you-just-have-to-love-these-main-characters sort of way.  Three women purchase a historical home and begin repairing…and repairing.  Soon their household grows as animals and people alike appear and become, either by invite or not, into the lively adventures at Ladybug Farm (yes, named so for that cute little bug!).

My reads have taken me from Mexico to California, to the land of vampires and witches and wizards, to the land of gods and goddesses, and finally to that farm in the Shenandoah Valley.

Now, I sit, pondering, viewing my bookcases, where do I want to travel next?

What have you read that you would recommend?  What are you reading?

Last night it began sleeting; then the snow began to fall.

This picture, taken from my front porch earlier today, symbolizes how I spent the last week of January 2010. 

My Beta Club…may I stop here and proclaim how proud I am of this group of leaders in our school?… spent most of this month preparing for the Arkansas State Beta Club Convention.  Sixteen young ladies planned and coordinated a dance routine in which they transform throughout the routine from nerds into precise, professional dancers.  Another group planned an officer campaign based on the theme of A Sound of Music…others painted scenes and created lattice (with tape) that became a gazebo; even designed and purchased t-shirts for this theme.  About fifteen of these same students committed to compete in academic competitions and quiz bowl.  Yes, commitment personified.  Yes, most of the time we felt quite “snowed” under by all this commitment!

Then the snow came…literally.

Our trip got canceled.  Of course.

BUT the Beta Club Convention carried on.  Without us.  I am so disappointed in an organization that cares so little about my students and the other schools across our state who spent this same sort of  time, energy, and money…the commitment…then could not attend due to Mother Nature, a snow storm that affected more than half of our state, a storm that affected several states.  (Did I mention the schools in the town hosting the convention were also closed due to ice accumulation?)

I constantly checked my email today, truly believing that this group, led by a council of principals and superintendents from across our state would make the right decision for all the Betas in Arkansas.  At the time of this posting, no such update has been sent.

Today, I have experienced many emotions.  Anger.  Sadness.  Disappointment. Even disgust.  Then I think of my students who would have met me this morning at 6:30 AM, who would have competed to the best of their abilities and would have, no doubt, won…then I felt proud, yet still sad.

For you see, the powers-that-be stole from my students…they stole opportunity, hope, fairness.

Their decision was not, is not, fair.  And nothing makes me madder than when students are not treated fairly.  Nothing.

Now, as I reflect on this experience…and thanks to Mother Nature, I have had that time today at home to reflect…I hope and pray that I do not create situations in my classroom, in my school where I deliberately make decisions that create unfair situations for my students.

Please, I hope I am not the person who creates situations in which students are treated unfairly. Let me be the one who fights for their rights, even when such stances maybe, just maybe, then place me in unfair position.

Also…I think this may be becoming a prayer of sorts…do not let  “doing what’s right for the students” become a cliche or a means just to obtain my own agenda.

I wonder…

Here’s my agenda for Beta…never again will I submit my Beta Club members to this sort of emotional ride.  Before next January, we will either…

1. have a plan in place to postpone during inclement weather,
2. move this convention to another time, OR
3. disband our club and promote another academic organization.

That is an action plan that involves doing what is right for my students.

When you think about the action plans you are currently implementing, who is benefiting?  You?  The students?  Your school?  Are you promoting opportunity, hope, fairness?

This week, BHS Reads:  Sweet Stakes, Batesville High’s book study group of Strategies That Work, updated each other on their use of chapter six “Making Connections.”

I am still amazed at the “need” of this group.  The need for synergy. 

Three walked in admitting ”I have not read, but here I am.”  One left early for lunch duty.

So why attend at all?

For the connections.  For the synergy.  For the sharing…  As we ate and shared about our week, our experiences, we grew professionally.

I shared how I had used a photo  via Flickr that day on our English 11 class blog to inspire Text-2-Me connections and promoted its use as we teach our students…and each other…about copyright.

Then we journeyed across the curriculum when the social studies teacher shared that he was asking his students to reflect in a paragraph about connections of the war his students are learning about to events of our time…so I suggested he use a paragraph outline graphic organizer that we in the English department use…to which the ESL teacher then asked for a copy for her students’ use.

That day I forwarded that graphic organizer to my peers.

Synergy.

Share with us a time you felt that synergy amongst your peers…powerful…right?

This week I was reminded that often what a  student allows me to see is just the tip of the ice burg.  While the 10 percent I view may be beautiful, cold, slippery, hard, moving, it, nevertheless, is most often just the the tip, just 10 percent.

That part I cannot see?  For this particular ice burg?  This one involves a family life that is hurting, scary.  This week global warming took over, and the emotions poured out as the stress became more than this student should have to endure.  As I had to echo when this student said through tears,  “It’s just not fair.” 

No, it’s not fair.

May this just remind me…us…that we work with ice burgs.  That we need to go through next week more conscious of what our students do not allow us to see.

May we work with and love and care for what we can..and cannot…see.  Absolutely beautiful works of natural art.

Jim Burke’s post at English Companion(Thank you, Mr. Jim) quickly had my attention with his update about ratemyteacher.com.  Let me break that apart for you…Rate My Teacher. Yes, as in, RATE My Teacher.

I visited the site, found my school, and searched for my name.  Then I had mixed feelings, for my name was not listed.

1. Glad I wasn’t listed for fear of receiving a bad rating.
2. Sorry I wasn’t listed for I had no rating.
3. Anxious…for the ratings I might receive in the future.

While such sites could be nice pats on the back, they could also result in a teacher being hammered with insults from minds that might not be mature enough to understand the results of such ratings…whether mental, emotional, or even tangible.

“Scary stuff,”  comments Mr. Jim.  Scary stuff, I echo.

Then I pondered on another statement he made on his post.  Would such ratings change the way I teach day-to-day if I knew I were being judged by my customers, the students?   Maybe.

While I hope my students enjoy my classes, I also see the bigger picture…life after my class, life after graduation.  Life.  By this I mean that our ultimate goal, as a teacher, is to prepare our students to be successful in life, in whatever endeavor(s) they choose.  To achieve that goal, sometimes, we…they…must practice, study, work…all active verbs, but not always the most fun.  Just scary to think that at such sites as ratemyteacher.com that one could be judged more harshly for lessons, activities that aren’t as “fun” as those that might be more engaging.

Many of  my pats on the back  (yes, the reasons I stay in the  classroom) have come after my students have graduated and gone on to “life.”  The thanks for all they learned in my class.

I agree that such ratings, such accountability is inevitable.   Are you ready?

Did you visit this site?  Were you glad, sorry, anxious?  What adjectives sum up your visit?

Active Patience.  Active.  Patience.

Make active patience a way of life.  Well said.  Now how does one make active patience a way of life when Web 2.0 often feels like it’s moving at the speed of light?  For the answer PLEASE read this blog post “Make Active Patience a Way of Life” by Teach Paperless. 

I appreciated the entire post but especially liked this closure:

By letting teachers use social media to explore their own interests — whether or not those interests are ‘directly’ related to school — you will foster a culture that fundamentally understands and values the resources of the digital age. The 21st century faculty will create itself.

Just be patient.

__________________________________________